The Supreme Court’s conservative majority appears skeptical of the Biden administration’s authority to impose a vaccine-or-testing requirement on the nation’s large employers. In arguments Friday, the court's six conservative justices appeared to view the administration's requirement for businesses with at least 100 employees as overstepping government authority. This, although seven of the nine justices heard arguments wearing masks for the first time, and one participated only by phone.
Ohio's Solicitor General, Benjamin Michael Flowers, asked the U-S Supreme Court to halt the Biden Administration's workplace vaccination requirements from going into effect while legal challenges to them continue. Ohio and 26 other Republican-led states have sued to stop the mandates, saying OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is overstepping its authority.
Ohio's Republican-led legislature passed a law last year that limits the governor's authority to issue public health orders.A bill granting broad exemptions to COVID-19 vaccine mandates passed the Ohio House and is now under consideration in the Senate.
The court also was hearing arguments on a vaccine mandate for most health care workers. Legal challenges to the policies from Republican-led states and business groups probably will determine the fate of vaccine requirements affecting more than 80 million people.
